This invention relates to footwear having fragrance releasing means and in particular to footwear having microencapsulated materials bounded to a surface for release of a scent or fragrance.
Footwear, most notably athletic footwear, has evolved to such a state that in addition to its primary purposes of providing support and protection for the foot it has taken on other functions. For example, one of these other known functions consists of including inflatable bladders in each shoe to be inflated by the wearer to provide for a better fit. Another known function is to include lights around the sole of the shoe or at the heel portion of the shoe to have a visual display. One example of such a shoe is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,009. Another known function of footwear is to include means for generating music for the wearer of the shoe to play music during use of the footwear. Two examples of such means for generating music are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,571,680 and 5,615,111, both of which are assigned to the assignee of this application. Additionally, footwear manufacturers are continuously looking for other functions to increase sales. Therefore it would be advantageous to have footwear having an additional function such as being able to release a fragrance or scent for the user of the footwear to smell during use or storage of the footwear. Additionally, it would be advantageous to have footwear which allows the wearer to be able to release various different fragrances or scents. It would further be advantageous to have footwear which serves a dual function of being a useful shoe in combination with an amusement device.